In 1991, a friction stir welding technique of joining metal materials such as aluminum alloys together was established in the United Kingdom. This technique joins metal materials to each other in the following way. A cylindrical friction stir welding tool having a small-diameter protrusion formed at a tip thereof is pressed against joint surfaces of the metal materials to be joined. Meanwhile, the friction stir welding tool is rotated to thereby generate frictional heat. This frictional heat causes the metal materials of the joint portion to soften and plastically flow, and thereby joins the metal materials together.
“Joint portion” herein refers to a joint interface portion where joining of metal materials by butting the metal materials or placing one metal material on top of the other metal material is desired. Near this joint interface, the metal materials are caused to soften and plastically flow, and the metal materials are stirred. As a result, the joint interface disappears and the metal materials are joined. Simultaneously with the joining, dynamic recrystallization occurs to the metal materials. Due to this dynamic recrystallization, the metal materials near the joint interface become fine particles, and thus the metal materials can be joined with a high strength (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-326372 (PTD 1)).
When aluminum alloys are used as the above-mentioned metal materials, plastic flow occurs at a relatively low temperature of approximately 500° C. Therefore, even when the friction stir welding tool made of an inexpensive tool steel is used, little wear and tear occurs and frequent replacement of the friction stir welding tool is unnecessary. Therefore, for the friction stir welding technique, the cost required to join the aluminum alloys is low. Thus, in place of a resistance welding method for melting and joining aluminum alloys, the friction stir welding technique has already been in practical use in various applications as a technique of joining parts of a railroad vehicle, a motor vehicle or an aircraft.
In order to improve the life of the friction stir welding tool, it is necessary to improve the wear resistance and the adhesion resistance of the friction stir welding tool. Friction stir welding uses frictional heat, which is generated by friction between the friction stir welding tool and the workpieces to be joined, to cause the workpieces to soften and plastically flow, and thereby join the workpieces together. Thus, in order to increase the joining strength to join the workpieces together, it is necessary to efficiently generate the frictional heat.
PTD 1, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-199281 (PTD 2), and Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-152909 (PTD 3) each disclose an attempt to improve the tool life through improvements of the wear resistance and the adhesion resistance of the friction stir welding tool.
For example, a friction stir welding tool of PTD 1 has a diamond film coating on the surface of a base material formed of a cemented carbide or silicon nitride. Since the diamond film is excellent in hardness and wear resistance and has a low friction coefficient, workpieces are less likely to be adhered to the friction stir welding tool. Accordingly, the workpieces can successfully be joined together.
In contrast, according to PTD 2, a probe pin and a rotator, which constitute a part of the surface of a friction stir welding tool and are to be brought into contact with workpieces, are formed of a cemented carbide containing 5 to 18% by mass of Co Because of such a content of Co, the affinity of the friction stir welding tool for the workpieces is low and the workpieces are less likely to adhere to the tool. Moreover, since a cemented carbide having a thermal conductivity of 60 W/m·K or more is used for the base material, heat is likely to be released and diffused into the outside, and buckling of the rotator and the probe pin as well as thermal deformation of the joint of the workpieces hardly occur.
According to PTD 3, a friction stir welding tool has an anti-adhesion layer that is made of any of diamond-like carbon, TiN, CrN, TiC, SiC, TiAlN, and AlCrSiN and coats the surface of a portion of the tool that is to be brought into contact with workpieces. According to PTD 3, the tool also has an underlying layer made of any of TiN, CrN, TiC, SiC, TiAlN, and AlCrSiN and provided between a base material and the anti-adhesion layer to coat the base material. The underlying layer can thus be provided to enhance the adherence between the base material and the anti-adhesion layer, make the anti-adhesion layer less likely to crack, and improve the wear resistance. Moreover, diamond-like carbon to be used for the anti-adhesion layer has a low affinity for soft metals such as aluminum and is thus excellent in adhesion resistance.